Tuesday, February 01, 2005

The Exile.

Episode for Jan 31, 2005, Monday.
Over the magic-well, the fairy Muyak flitted about nervously. She called out to Linang (who did not spent her whole time looking at the water, of course) and said, “Look here! What’s happening?”
So the queen went over and peered into the water’s surface. The Avilan scenery had dimmed; thick, heavy clouds flew across the sky, blotting out the sun; and the leaves of the Mulawin tree itself fell withered on the ground. “Damn that Perena!” exclaimed Linang. “She already helped Ravenum and the others become Ravena again. Now this? She is the only one who has the power to do this. The Mulawin tree is at Avila’s peak and there’s no way the clouds could have blocked the light!”
But Muyak replied, “Perena may be evil. But everything has a role to play in the world. Maybe her actions play a part in God’s final plans.”
The Mulawin blamed no evil Diwata for this ominous development. To them, it was too plain to the naked eye who was responsible: Aguiluz, the second Sugo. He had become a bane to the Avilans, it seemed. And the mere sight of him inspired fear, anger, hatred and a host of other negative sentiments that effectively disrupted the harmony in the land.
Now the elders of the High Council gathered at the foot of the dying tree to discuss the matter. “The tree is already exposed to all the elements,” one of them reasoned. “There’s no natural way this could have happened.”
“If only Aguiluz had not abandoned the tree,” another said.
Dakila and Bagwis were among them, and while the former supported the others’ view, the new king was inclined to disagree. “Isn’t this a grave accusation you bring up?” he asked. He had been in a similar situation before, when Dakila had convicted Aviona of charges (which later proved false) based on flimsy evidence.
But Dakila told him, “Bagwis, as the newest member of our High Council, you need to know that being here is not easy. This is hard for us to do. But it is in the best interest of the citizens of Avila that Aguiluz leaves.”
Without a formal trial, the Council declared the son of Aguilar guilty, and the penalty for his crime was exile.
Now Aguiluz had been scouring the whole area all day in search of the missing children. With the untimely darkness that blanketed the land, it was difficult task. He tried to use his extra-sensory powers to locate them, but in vain. Then two Mulawin soldiers came up behind him. “What do you want from me?” he asked.
“Come with us,” said one sentry. “We were sent to get you. If I were you, I wouldn’t add to my sins by resisting.”
The escorts led him to where the Mulawin elders awaited him. Their accusing eyes felt like knives on his innermost. Dakila spoke first. “This is difficult for me to do. Even though I still cannot forgive you for abandoning your duty, still that doesn’t erase from my heart the fact that I have loved you as a second-son.”
“That’s why I will do everything I can to earn your forgiveness. Tell me what to do, and I will do it.”
Bagwis: “Aguiluz, as the new king, I must tell you this. You must leave Avila now.”
“As the members of the High Council, we have agreed to banish you,” the others declared. “If not for what you did, this would not have happened to the tree.”
Aguiluz was so stunned that half of what they said scarcely registered in his ears. “You blame even the withering of the Mulawin tree on me?” he said.
“We are giving you the opportunity to make up for what you did,” Dakila assured him. “You may return as soon as you find the tree’s fruit.”
“Use your God-given abilities to find it,” said another elder. “Even if it has already been proven that you are not worthy of them.”
“But nobody even knows what the fruit looks like!” Aguiluz cried. “Even with my gifts, I couldn’t see. I can’t even see what is in the hearts of these people in front of me right now!”
Then the elders bade him tarry not, and depart at once.
Fleet-footed Aviona broke into the High Council after Aguiluz’s dismissal. “What’s going on?” she demanded. “You’re sending Aguiluz away? Have you no pity? Dakila, how long will you put the law before your loved ones?”
“I’m sorry,” said Aramis. “I couldn’t stop her.”
“I will go with him then,” Aviona told them. “I will help him.”
Dakila sighed, “For heaven’s sake, Aviona, do not disobey me. How many times have we found ourselves in this situation? Part of growing up is realizing that sometimes, there is nothing we can do about things.”
“There is something I can do!” she insisted. “You didn’t say Aguiluz is not allowed to accept help, especially when it is being offered freely to him. I will follow my heart. Aguiluz and I have been friends since childhood. Maybe I can help him.”
She raised her head proudly and closed with these words, “You yourselves say Avila is open and free. Then I freely choose to leave it!”
Then Aguiluz said to her, “Don’t put yourself in harm’s way.”
“Don’t waste your breath,” she said with a smile. “I will go with you. That’s it.”
Aramis quickly volunteered. “I will go with you also. I have no other friend here and you will probably need a good huntsman.”
But the Prince of Encantadia overheard him, and walking up to them in his dignified manner, said, “I will join you also. I will just say goodbye to my father.”
If a mere glance could harm, Aramis would have slain him with his own peepers. One of us isn’t coming along, Mulagat. And I’m not the one who’ll be left behind either, he thought.
Lourdes met with the people of Carig and warned them not to be hasty in their judgment. “It cold be just someone who put on talons to make it appear as if a Mulawin did this,” she told them. “What we should do is get on with our lives. The men will take turns keeping vigil. I, too, will keep vigil. But no one must go alone. You must always have someone with you. Agreed?” Such a natural leader this fine woman was; the citizens of Carig agreed.
Tata’s slayer woke up his companion early that day. “We should have gone walking while it was still dark,” he said angrily. “Not now when we have to hide!”
Lourdes happened to be out in the fields that day, wearing a farmer’s hat as a shade. Gabriel was shocked. “Aling Lourdes is here!” he whispered to Terong.
Alwina and Tuka had just returned from Halconia. Since he blew up the area, Alwina had heard no more of Rasmus. As she pointed out to Tuka, “It’s when you hear nothing of your enemy that you should be worried.” But they had rummaged the dusky ruins of the former Ravena stronghold in vain; they had found no traces of Pagaspas or the others. As they headed for Alwina’s house, Rosing met them.
“Why is it so dark here?” asked Alwina.
And the old woman told her, “Do you know what happened to Aguiluz? They banished him.”
“What!” she cried. “Where could he be?”
But Tuka held her back. “What about my son, Pagaspas?”
The Sugo debated within herself, and, deciding that Aguiluz needed her less than the three youngsters did, she chose to stay with Tuka.
“Are you sure it was Rasmus who kidnapped them?” the mother asked.
“I can’t think of anyone else who could be responsible,” said Alwina. “He’s the only one who would consider the children as enemies. We have to find Rasmus’ new hideout then.”
Veronica had been there all the while, reluctant to speak. “Excuse me, Alwina. I heard earlier from Aling Rosing that the children are missing.”
A wild idea blazed a trail across Alwina’s distracted mind. “Wait a minute!” she said, grabbing Veronica by the arm with fingers that felt like talons.
“You’re hurting me!” her mother cried.
Alwina glared at her like a blast-furnace melting iron. “If there’s one person here who knows where Rasmus is, it’s got to be his former queen! Now, tell me where he is, Veronica!”
Tuka gaped in horror and shouted, “Will you stop that? She’s the Mulawin Queen! And she probably doesn’t really know since she hasn’t gone out since the wedding!”
So she is useless, thought Alwina, and dropped her grip.
“Alwina, I’m not happy about this,” Veronica said. “Even you, from the way you have cared for those children, know what it feels like to be a mother. I feel it even more than you do.” She then held out some food wrapped in banana leaves to Alwina. Tuka received it awkwardly and gave thanks to the queen.
“Be careful, Alwina,” her mother told her.
“I don’t need any reminders from you.”
She motioned for Tuka to follow her; Veronica could only watch her leave.
Aramis was as swift as his feathered arrows, and as deadly as their poisoned tips. As Habagat was giving his son his blessing on this latest quest, the treacherous archer fired at them. Several arrows flew into the air and pierced an ancient tree between father and son. But one hit Habagat on the trunk and felled him.
“Father!” Mulagat cried, catching him. “Where are you?” he called after the assassin. “Don’t be a coward! Come out here and show yourself!”
Aramis grinned wickedly. “Aviona is waiting for me so we have to cut this short,” he whispered. “But you’re no longer coming with us… especially when you see what will happen to your father!”
The trio decided not to wait for Mulagat, as he had taken too much time. Then excusing himself to go hunting, Aramis went off and whistled to Rasmus as a signal. “I have a prize for you,” the spy said, and told him the latest developments.
Rasmus was pleased. “Pretend well, for we are going to fight soon.”
“I don’t need to pretend to fight you. We don’t get alone. You forget this whole thing is forced on me.”
“You have no choice!” Rasmus laughed. “Go find that plant, you’ll need it.”
The trio traveled until nightfall at which time Aramis showed off his survival skills and roasted a meal for them. “I want to protect Aviona, you know,” Aramis explained to Aguiluz, who was staring at empty space, clueless as to what he should do now.
“She doesn’t need anyone for that.”
“Even so, I want to do it.”
Aguiluz was deadpan. “Your words are sweet. But it will take more than words to earn our trust, Aramis.”
Niwalum had refused to exhibit his powers, much to Savannah’s embarrassment. She punished him and his friends by starving them and taunting them. Rasmus returned that night with the news. “Give your petty pranks a rest, Savannah,” he said. “Aguiluz is gone. We can kill him now. He was banished.”
“Don’t be rash,” said his father. “This is an emissary we’re talking about!”
While Mulagat bore his father away to the Mulawin’s physician, Linang felt the temptation to join her family. “As your dame, it is my duty to remind you that you cannot just leave Encantadia,” Muyak told her.
To which Linang replied, “This is the day I curse ever being a Diwata! I cannot even be with my loved ones when they need me!”
The physician brought grim news to the anxious Mulagat, beside whom was Dakila. “His heartbeat is rapid, and his metabolism has accelerated,” said the healer with a shake of his head. “It’s tandisis. It’s caused by a poisonous plant. We’ve been trying to find a cure but…”
“What’s tandisis?” asked the youth. “You do have a cure for that, don’t you?
Dakila then explained to him, “No. There is no cure for it. Habagat is dying. There is nothing we can do to save him.”

1 Comments:

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